ITALIAN prosecutors have reportedly opened a manslaughter probe into the captain of the Bayesian superyacht over the deaths of seven people on board. James Cutfield, 51, from New Zealand, is being investigated for manslaughter and shipwreck, La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera said. Magistrates reportedly spoke to Cutfield on Sunday for the second time in a week - questioning him for more than two hours.
Prosecutors may also investigate a crew member who was on duty when the storm hit and survived the disaster, according to reports. The 184ft Bayesian was carrying 22 people when it capsized and sank last Monday within minutes of being hit by a storm while anchored off northern Sicily. Brit tech tycoon Mike Lynch and four others were found dead in the first cabin of the luxury yacht’s left side.
Mr Lynch's 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, was found in the third cabin after it sank stern-first before rolling on to its right on the seabed. The yacht’s chef also died. Fifteen of the 22 on board, including Mr Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares, 57, escaped on a life raft.
Prosecutors said the victims had attempted to scramble to one side of the doomed £30million, 184ft vessel in a desperate battle to reach air pockets after it went down in a storm off Sicily. Chief Prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio said the victims would have been asleep when the freak weather struck at around 5am local time on Monday last week, leaving them unable to escape. Being placed under investigation in Italy do.